Shallow-water indicator



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1..

A. G. GROSSMAN. SHALLOW WATER INDIGATOR.

No. 474,221. Patented May 3, 1892.

W/TNESSES A TTOHNEYS ms nnams PETERS co, warn-mun msumswu, u. c.

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

A. G. OROSSMAN. SHALLOW WATER INDICATOR.

No. 474,221. Patented May 3, 1892.

W/TNESSES. INVENTO/Y UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

ALONZO G. OROSSMAN, OF HUNTINGTON, NEI/V YORK.

SHALLOW-WATER lN DICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,221, dated May 3,1892. Application filed December 30, 1890. Serial No. 376,193- (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALONZO G. CROSSMAN, of Huntington, in the county ofSuffolk and State of New York,have invented a new and ImprovedShallow-WVater Indicator, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

My invention relates to a shallow-water indicator adapted for use uponboats or vessels when near land and when the presence of shallow wateris suspected to indicate the fact.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple device capable ofbeing manipulated by any person of ordinary intelligence and of beingemployed When the vessel is under way or forging ahead.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means whereby when thedevice engages with the bottom an alarm will be automatically soundedand whereby also the character of the bottom will be disclosed.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts,

as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims. a

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures and letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a perspective vlew representing the application of thedevice to the vessel. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device. Fig. 3 is anedge view thereof, and Fig. t is a bottom plan view. Fig. 5 is atransverse section taken on the line 0c 00 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a frontview of the device. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the reelingmechanism and the alarm connected therewith. Fig. 8 is a side elevationof a drag or float used in connection with the device at times. Fig. 9is a side elevation of the device, indicating the angle it assumes whenin the water and set to touch the ground; and Fig. 10 is a perspectiveview of a slightly-modified form of the device.

The body A of the device is made of wood or other light material capableof readily floating. The body is preferably made as thin as possibleconsistent with strength and is of mfich greater length than width. The

stern is somewhat narrow, having a gradual taper, and is provided with arudder 11, secured thereto in any approved manner, usually through themedium of screws, as illus trated, in order that it may be shiftedlaterally in the event the forward portion of the body should warp.

At or near the center of the body an opening is made, into which acorrespondinglyshaped metal block 12 is fitted and secured, which blockis integral with a keel 13, located centrally upon the under face of thebody and extending from a point at the rear of the center of the body tothe bow and beyond the same. The keel is constructed of metal and ispointed at each end, the rear end being also flatten ed, and the saidkeel is beveled upward from each side of its center. The keel is furtherprovided with a longitudinal groove 14 in the central portion of itsunder face and a longitudinal slot 14*, which is also extended throughthe block 12. The upper face of the keel at the bow is preferably flushwith the upper face of the body, the keel being to that end thickened atthe bow and the body recessed to receive the offset 15 of the keel, asshown in Fig. 2. The keel extends some distance beyond the bow of thebody, and the said body at the bow is preferably beveled or rounded offat its sides. 7

In connection with the body a spear B is employed, comprising a shank 16and ahead 17. The upper surface of the shank .at its rear is providedwith a lug or ear 18,having, preferably, a curved recess 19 in its rearedge. The ear or lug loosely fits into the slot of the keel and itsblock and is pivoted therein, the pivotal attachment being so effectedthat when the shank of the spear lies in the groove of the keel themouth of the recess 19 will be below the plane of the upper face of thebody, as shown in Fig. 3, whereby any object located in the recess isprevented from falling out. The spear-shank 16 is curved downward, asshown at a, where said shank joins the head 17, and the head is shapedsomewhat like an elongated arrow-head, the line of its upper face beingapproximately that of a compound curve, as is best illustrated in Fig.3. The convexity of the surface of the head is very slight and islocated next to the shank. In the broad convexed surface of the head acavity 20 is produced adapted to receive and to carry to the surface asample of the bottom.

At the bow or forward end of the body the lowerend of a draw-bar 21 ispivoted, the pivotal extremity of the bar being preferably bifurcatedand connected with the body at each side of its center, as shown in Fig.2. The draw-bar has pivotally connected at its upper end a lock-bar 22,which terminates at its lower extremity with a loop or eye 23, adaptedto enter the recess 19 of the spear. The spear is normally held paralleland in engagement with the keel by a spring-tongue 24, secured at itsinner end to the upper face of the body A. The tongue extends through achannel 25 in the offset 15 of the keel beyond the front edge of theoffset and through a bail 26, pivoted upon the shank of the spear.

It will be observed that the device somewhat resembles an inverted kiteand that it is exceedingly simple and durable in construction. spearnear its head and the peculiar curve of the upper face of the headcauses the spear to offer but slight resistance to the water in itspassage through the same and tends to prevent any undue pressure uponthe latch of the device. which consists of thetongue 24 and the bail 26.

In Fig. 9 I have illustrated a slightly-modified form of the device, inwhich the body A is more kite-shaped than is the body illustrated inFigs. 2, 3, and 4, the bow being curved and the stern decidedly beveledat its sides. In this form of the device the keel is dispensed with andthe body is made in two sections 1) and b, the two sections beingmortised to overlap, and the sections are connected by a metal hinge 19The shank of the spear is pivoted in an aperature in the body, the saidspear being of similar construction to that described. The draw-bar 21is pivoted in a slot in the bow of the body bet weentwo flanges arrangedone at each side of the slot, as best shown in Fig. 10, and the tongue24 passes beneath the draw-bar outward beyond the bow.

In applying the device the cable 28 is sometimes attached to thedraw-bar 21, and the inner end of the cable is attached to a drum 29,located preferably at the stern of the vessel, which drum has a secondcable 30 secured thereto, connected in any suitable or approved mannerwith a bell 31, gong, or other alarm mechanism. The drum is providedwith a suitable brake, and the cable 28 is weighted, the weights beingpreferably applied to the drum 29 in any approved manner.

In operation the eye of the lock-bar 22 is entered in the recess 19 ofthe spear when the spear is unlatched and located at an angle to thebody. When the lock-bar has been connected with the spear, the spear iscarried upward to its normal position, which is parallel and inengagement with the under surface of the body, and the tongue 24 issprung through the bail or staple 26. The device, set in the mannerdescribed, is thrown over- The curvature a in the shank of the boardastern and a sufficient amount of cable is run out to correspond to thedepth of water at which, when reached, an alarm is to be sounded, and isconnected with the cable 30. The line of cable 28 is very thin,preferably a slight wire, and therefore offers but little resistance.When the vessel forges ahead and the deviceis overboard, it assumes theposition shown in Figs. 1 and 9 and extends toward the bottom nearly thelength of the cable. If the cable, for instance, is forty fathoms inlength, when the water shoals to a little less than about forty fathomsthe head of the spear will engage with the bottom and the tongue 24 isreleased from connection with the spear, whereupon the spear is carriedbackward in the direction of the stern and assumes a horizontal positionagain, and as it turns or reverses the lock-bar 22 is released,whereupon, instead of the cable drawing from the center and bow of thedevice,

which is the case when the device is locked, the cable draws upon thedraw-bar 21 only, and the said bar falls to a horizontal position, orpractically in the same plane with the body of the device. Thus thedevice is drawn straight ahead and will rise to the surface. The verymoment that the latch is released and the spear reverses, most of thetension which has been exerted upon the cable 28 is removed, and theweight connected with the cable, acting upon the drum, causes the cable28 to be wound thereon and also causes the cable 30 to draw upon thealarm device to such an extent as to sound an alarm. In the event thatthe sea is very rough, a float 32 is thrown overboard, which ispreferably oval in general contour, and to the float one end of a line33 is attached, the other end of the' line being secured on board theship, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The float is provided with afriction-pulley 34, over which the cable 28, attached to the device,passes. The float or drag serves to steady the device in heavy seas andcauses it to be drawn forward upon an essentially straight line. Whenthe float or drag is used, the device does not feel the motion of thevessel, as the cable takes its downward course from the float.

By constructing the body of the device in sections, as shown in Fig. 9,and hinging said sections when the device is thrown overboard and drawnafter the vessel, the upper face of the bod yis capable of assumingsomewhat of a con vexed contour, thereby materially assisting in thedescent of the device, and when the spear has been released and tensionis exerted upon the front of the device only, the two sections canassume a position in the same plane, their upward movement being limitedby stops located on the bottom of the body, as indicated in dottedlines.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. A shallow-water indicator for ships and smallercraft, acting on the principle of an IIO inverted kite, comprising abody portion flexibly connected to the vessel, a spear or lever pivotedto said body-portion adapted to engage the ground at one end and nearits pivotal point detachably connected to retaining mechanism, whichreleases one of the guy ropes or rods of the equalizing-bridle, by whichsaid indicator is towed, and said retaining mechanism.

2. As a means for determining the shallowness of water within certainlimits from a vessel in motion, a submerged mechanism, serving on theprinciple of an inverted kite, said mechanism comprising a body flexiblyconnected at its upper face to the vessel and provided with a pivotedspear, the distal end of which projects beyond the front end of the bodyfor engagment with the ground, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

3. The shoal-alarm described, consisting of a body A, adapted to betrailed at a depth below the vessel, provided at its lower side with apivoted spear, the distal end of which projects beyond the front end ofthe body, and a latch and trip mechanism connected with the spear,substantially for the purpose specified.

4. The shoal-alarm described, consisting of an elongated body adapted tobe trailed at a depth below the vessel, having a flexible connectiontherewith and provided with a longitudinally-extending pivoted spear onits under side, the distal end of which projects beyond the front end ofthe body, a latch separably connecting the body and spear in front ofits pivot, a draw-bar connected to the upper side of the forward part ofthe body, and a trip-bar connected at its upper end with the upper endof the draw-bar and at its lower end separably connected with the innerend of the spear to be released when the spear swings 011 its axis, asand for the purpose specicified.

5. The shoal-alarm described, consisting of an elongated body adapted tobe trailed at a depth below the vessel, having a flexible connectiontherewith and provided with a pivoted spear on its under side, thedistal end of which projects beyond the front end of the body, a latchseparably connecting the forward part of the spear with the body,adrawbar pivoted to the upper forward part of the body, a trip-barpivotally connected to the said draw-bar and adapted at its lower end toseparably connect with the pivoted end of the spear, and a drag or floatlocated between the device and the vessel, engaging the line connectingthe two, substantially as specified.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination, with a bodyconstructed of a material. capable of floating and having curved frontand rear ends, of a spear pivotod at one end beneath the body,projecting at its distal end beyond and separably connected thereat withthe body,a draw-barpivotally connected with the body at its bow, and atrip-bar pivotally connected with the upper end of the draw-bar andhaving a detachable connection at its lower end with the spear at itspivoted end, as and for the purpose specified.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination, with akite-like body provided with a rudder at its stern, of a spear pivotedat or near the center of the lower side of the body, the pivotal end ofthe spear being extended up through the body and provided with a recessand the distal end projecting in front of the body, a draw-bar pivotedat the forward end of the body, a tripbar connected with the upper endof the draw-bar and with the recessed portion of the spear, a keeperattached to the forward part of the spear, and a spring-latch secured tothe front end of the body and engaging the said keeper, as and for thepurpose specified.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination, with a bodyconstructed of a material capable of floating and having akitelikeoutline, a rudder secured to the stern of the body, and a metal keelattached longitudinally to the bottom of a body, of a spear, the rearend whereof is pivoted in the keel and projects above the top of thebody, being provided in its projecting portion with a recess, and thedistal end of the spear projecting in front of the body, a draw-barpivoted to the bow of the body, a trip-bar connected at its upper endwith the upper end of the draw-bar and at its lower end with therecessed portion of the spear, a keeper attached to the forward portionof the spear, and a spring-latch secured to the front end of the bodyand engaging with the keeper, as and for the purpose specified.

9. A shallow-water indicator for ships, acting on the principle of aninverted kite, comprising a body portion having a tow-line to connectwith the vessel, a drag-line leading from the vessel to the tow-line, aspear or lever pivoted to said body portion adapted to engage the groundat one end and near its pivotal point detachably connected to retainingmechanism, which releases one of the guy ropes or rods of theequalizing-bridle, by which the indicator is towed, and said retainingmechanism.

ALONZO G. OROSSMAN.

Witnesses:

J. FRED ACKER, O. SEDewIoK.

